Thursday, April 5, 2012

Mad Man Bamboo and a Yard Crashers project...

After participating in production of the Season 7 premiere of DIY Network's Yard Crashers in October, I have been waiting for several months now to see the show, and see what ultimately ended up in the final cut.

Ironically enough, I just watched the show, which premiered this past Monday, last night (Wednesday) as I was on a family vacation in Carmel, California. The place we stayed in Carmel did not have the DIY Channel, so with that I had to wait until we got home to watch the show on the DVR.

So, I wanted to share with you my contribution to the project and my overall experience participating in Yard Crashers. If you watched the show, you saw brief glimpses of me, but I was working hard behind the scenes on the second day of the project, planting plants and generally helping out where I could.

Overall, I had a really good time and was happy to be able to show how clumping bamboo and running bamboo can be used properly (planting the right type of bamboo in the right circumstances) to create a lush, green new yard.

The project itself was located in Sacramento in the Curtis Park neighborhood. If you have ever watched Yard Crashers you know that they jam their projects into a two day timeframe. With that, they mobilize a near army of contractors, artisans and nursery professionals to pull off a somewhat ambitious yard makeover. The project was designed by Misha Lindsey of Design by Misha who did an excellent job in designing the makeover and guiding the project to completion. She was also very kind, down to earth and easy to work with.

I donated about a dozen bamboo plants to the project which you see lined against the fence. They were Bambusa ventricosa 'Buddha's Belly Kimmei', Bambusa multiplex 'Hedge Bamboo', Phylostachys nigra 'Daikokuchiku (Giant Black Bamboo) and one Himalayacalamus hookerianus 'Teague's Blue Bamboo'. Although not specifically mentioned in the show, the bamboo played a key role in accenting the overall "Thai look and feel" to the project and brought in some lush green foliage to what was once a very stark, average backyard.

With that, here are some photos of the entire project:

Here is the yard before the Yard Crashers Crew began. Pretty typical yard.

When I arrived, on day two, this is what I saw - the Thai style levitation bed's frame was done (Matt Blashaw, the show's host, was working on the roof), they were laying the foundation of the paver patio and they were well along the way to completing the new deck.

Here is Matt working with one of the homeowners with a saw.

A photo with Matt during a very brief break.

Clumping bamboo along the fence line to create that lush Thai-style backdrop.

The "Teague's Blue Bamboo", a clumping bamboo, was planted as a centerpiece ornamental near the barbecue.

I really liked the barbecue that Misha Lindsey designed. Behind that are Phylostachys nigra 'Daikokuchiku' (Giant Black Bamboo) that were going to be placed in pots and temporarily staged behind the barbecue.

The finished levitating bed with bamboo in the background.

The finished project, which was done by around 7 pm the second night. I was very tired by the end of the day, but had a great time and it was an experience I will never forget.

Bamboo prints and posters by Nate Abbott

About my bamboo nursery.....

I own a small, part-time bamboo nursery in Rocklin, CA, about 15 minutes east of Sacramento, CA. I have 120 varieties of bamboo in my personal collection most of which are for sale. I attend plant sales and farmers markets throughout the Sacramento area. Our event schedule is posted at www.madmanbamboo.com. I'm happy to answer questions regarding bamboo. Hopefully you'll enjoy this site!